


noble maiden fair

by timeiswasting



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Baby Allura, Gen, I don't know how tags work, I named Allura's mother Gaia in this fic, Past Paladins - Freeform, Young Allura, altea, sort of, this is incredibly self indulgent family fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-14 01:26:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11772588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeiswasting/pseuds/timeiswasting
Summary: Allura's childhood on Altea was not always simple, but it was full of love.





	noble maiden fair

Coran was a grown man, an experienced mechanic, King Alfor’s most trusted friend and, despite his eccentricity and what some whispered about him in the castles halls, a reasonably sensible person. 

But sitting in the nursery, watching the king and queen leave the room and holding a gently snoring infant Princess in his arms, he can’t recall why any of that was important. When the doors swish quietly closed behind the couple, Coran finds himself filling up with a sense of foreboding. Looking after the Princess for a few vargas seemed like a relatively simple task when he’d offered, mostly, Coran had just been pleased that Alfor was not going to be gallivanting off with Zarkon. It was no secret that he was not keen on the Galran leader, no matter how fond Alfor and the other leaders were of him. 

Allura stirs slowly in her sleep, one of her tiny hands coming up to clutch at Coran’s sleeve. He wonders briefly if he can move to reach his device and continue some research without awakening her. Just as he decides to reach over the arm of the chair for it, the Princess lets out a soft yawn and blinks open her blue eyes.

“Ah,” Coran coughs slightly, suddenly incredibly aware of how little experience he has with infants, “Princess, you’re awake!”

She responds by blinking sleepily at him. 

Coran stares back, feeling slightly chastised without really knowing why. 

After a minute Allura looks away, turning away towards the chairs that previously held her parents, her face scrunching up slightly when she can’t see them. She gazes back up at Coran, frowning.

“Uh- Ah! Well, you see Princess your mother and father have elected to take some time together in the gardens, leaving you with -uh, me?” The Princess does not respond. Coran clears his throat nervously, “I hope that’s alright with you?”

Allura blinks and looks back over at the empty seats. 

And then she starts crying.

Quiznak! Coran thinks. 

“Uh...Now, now Princess! Nothing to worry about they’ll be back quite soon!” he announces, struggling to raise his voice over her wails. For a small and delicate looking child, she seems to have a rather large set of lungs.  
When she starts wriggling, Coran panics, running through his brain trying to find anything he can use in this situation. He’s sure Gaia told him how to handle this but all that comes to mind when he tries to remember, is his own naive assurances that he’d be fine with the Princess. 

Her little face is red now, tears sticking her white curls to her cheeks. Coran holds her a little tighter and stands up, moving from foot to foot while he tries to think. Her nappy doesn’t feel damp, he knows she was only recently fed, and she can’t be tired as she’s only just woken up.

“Aha!” Coran explains, startling Allura into quiet for a second before she starts up again. The Grumlevese are excellent parents! A forest dwelling bat-like species, well renowned for the high survival rate of their offspring. Coran’s grandmother herself was part of the expedition that researched their unusual parenting techniques, and he’s proud to say he recalls much of it. All he needs is a branch to suspend Allura upside from and- 

Coran sighs and mentally kicks himself. 

No, of course, that’s a ridiculous idea. What on Altea is the point in knowing all these things if he can’t even remember how to calm down a bawling baby? She’s sobbing so loud now she has to take in big, gulping breaths, her whole-body rigid with dismay. Coran briefly considers leaving and asking for some assistance, but stops himself when he thinks of the looks of disdain the other servants give him when he passes. He’s not sure anyone would feel much like helping him. 

The King’s most trusted advisor, and the least respected member of the Royal staff, he thinks, bitterly.

Coran shakes himself out of his train of thought. Maybe the Princess’ distress is rubbing off on him, he never usually gives mind to how the others perceive him. He looks back down at her scrunched-up face again.

“You know, your resemblance to your mother is obvious, but right now you rather remind me more of your father,” Coran laughs a little and he lowers himself back into the chair, “used to be quite tantrumer when we were younguns!”

His smile dims as he looks back down. Allura’s cries have quietened down to sniffles as she tires, but her face remains the picture of anguish.

“Uhm – oh! I recall a time his mother scolded us for upsetting our tutor, she took away his books for a whole three quintents as punishment.” He shakes his head, “He shut himself in his room for days before anyone could console him, refused to talk to his mother for so long she asked me to speak to him for her!” 

He smiles at the memories, “Of course, most wouldn’t believe that nowadays, he’s far too sensible.”

He stops as he feels a soft tug on his finger. She’s still sniffling, but her tears appear to have stopped while he was talking and she’s looking up at him, eyes red and puffy. Coran pauses, then wipes gingerly at her damp cheeks with the edge of his sleeve.

“There we go, Princess. Nothing to be upset about!”, he exclaims hopefully. 

She blinks at him again, lip still trembling slightly. Coran frowns.

The sun is slowly crawling across the sky outside, casting long shadows across the room. It draws Coran’s attention to the view, and he brings Allura round so she can see the sprawl of the landscape outside. 

With the Princess quiet for the time being, the silence starts to niggle at Coran’s mind; as always, he’s uncomfortable with the absence of noise, so he speaks again.

“If my memory doesn’t deceive me, it’s almost the fifth anniversary of your father asking for your mother’s hand. Your father’s proudest achievement,” he stops and looks down at Allura, “Well, his second proudest achievement.”

Allura turns her head to look over the view, her round eyes scrunching up at the strength of the sun. As the sunlight catches her eyes, they shine an almost electric blue, flecks of gold and green surrounding her pupil.  
Coran thinks of Alfor’s own eyes and murmurs, “So much like your father.”

A swell of pride runs through him; this is his best friend’s child. The boy he grew up with, who threw fits when inconvenienced but who stuck up for Coran over and over, the boy who couldn’t approach Gaia alone upon their first meeting, who has worked for the good of Altea and the universe his whole life.

Coran knows, no matter what happens, Alfor will cherish Allura, she’ll have the best of everything, she’ll never feel unloved or alone, not as long as Alfor, Gaia and even Coran live. And that’s not even considering the rest of the kingdom. News of Allura’s birth was celebrated at length throughout the land; parties and parades, crowds spanning miles surrounding the castle for a quintent at least! 

And, if she truly is Gaia and Alfor’s child, she will give just as much back to the people. To the universe. He thinks proudly. 

Coran holds her a little tighter, tilting her towards the view from the window. Her legs kick gently under the blanket she’s swaddled in and she reaches out with her hand towards Coran’s chin. 

“You’ll never be short of love, little one.” 

The landscape outside is cast in gold now, the last burst of sunlight spreading the end of the day’s warmth across the horizon. Allura gapes at the scene, not yet privy to the workings of the world around her. Watching her carefully, Coran vows, right then, to be there as she works it out.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the most self indulgent thing I've ever written.  
> It's not fantastic, I know the flow doesn't quite work and I need to work on my characterisations for future chapters. But the whole point of this fic was to give myself something I'd enjoy writing so I could practice for when I write out more complex stuff! Which I have lots of ideas for!...Just not the skills lmao  
> Anywho, let me know what you think! Next chapter should be up in a week or so if all goes well! <3


End file.
